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Conclusions
The healthcare ecosystem is undergoing a revolution.
Globalisation, technological innovation and medical advances
are driving improvements in the quality and health of human
lives. There are also new challenges to be faced: increasing
developmental risk, escalating costs and mounting pressures
from stakeholders. In parallel, the expectations of patients,
healthcare providers, payors and regulators are rising as they
demand greater proof of safety, efficacy and value while
maintaining affordable prices. However, pharma face internal
issues: blockbusters are coming off patent and there is
increased competition from generics and, despite escalating
R&D costs, the pipeline of new drugs is looking thin. All in all,
traditional business strategies and operations can no longer
support and enable pharma to sustain their current growth
and profitability into the foreseeable future.
This is a future that will not be clement: there is a storm on the
horizon. There have already been casualties in other sectors, and
pharma cannot rely on history or size to survive. Weak business
practices will be revealed and punished, and pharma need to
change the way they operate if they are to lead the way over the
next few decades.
All is not doom and gloom: opportunities do exist for pharma
to excel. There are new products and services to offer. Many
more diseases are treatable or even preventable, and in
a way that will increasingly take account of the individual’s
medical history and unique pathology. There are now multiple
ways to interact with and to service all aspects of the
healthcare system, including patients, physicians and payors.
Emerging economies offer new markets with potential for
high growth.
The 20th century supply chain needs to evolve radically to
embrace the new dynamism across the healthcare industry.
Product portfolios will continue to diversify, and the 21st
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